


Aftermath

by 0bviousLeigh



Series: Yuma is a Girl [14]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Bonding, Gender or Sex Swap, IT IS TIME, Kissing, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-19
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 17:58:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12137982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bviousLeigh/pseuds/0bviousLeigh
Summary: In the aftermath of forming Zexal and surviving Kite's attack, Yuma and Astral talk about what's next.





	Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my Zexal rewrite that I started for Zexal month on tumblr--an AU in which, first and foremost, Yuma is a girl. Always a girl, born with a V, the whole nine yards. Why? Because the idea wouldn't leave me alone. So [I drew it](http://rainbow-galaxy-supernova.tumblr.com/post/164290621451/zexal-month-day-13-yuma-day-something-ive-been), and I started writing it, and I ran with it.

Yuma walks right through the front door of her house at 3 AM, covered in dust and rubble, and not caring if someone hears her. But no one hears her, no one is up waiting for her, because as far as Akari and grandma know, she went to bed hours ago and has been sleeping ever since. Yuma locks the front door and goes to the laundry room, where she strips off her dirty clothes and throws them in the wash machine, then grabs a pair of pajamas and her bag and heads to the back of the house where the master bedroom is—her parent’s room. The room has its’ own bathroom, isolated from Akari and grandma’s rooms, so they won’t hear the water running.

A shiver runs down Yuma’s spine as she opens the bedroom door and she feels momentarily lightheaded, like she’s in a place she’s not meant to be. It happens each time she’s come into this room, with the bed neatly made and furniture dusted. Grandma cleans the room weekly, though Yuma has never asked if it’s her way of preparing for her son and daughter-in-law’s return, or if she sees it as grave maintenance.

The feeling passes, and Yuma goes to the bathroom. She keeps the key around her neck as she steps into the shower. The hot water feels heavenly, and she suddenly realizes how achy she feels. So when she’s cleaned up, Yuma plugs the bathtub drain and lets the water keep running. Now she can at least soak in clean water, rather than let the grime sit in the tub with her. She sinks down, wincing as her knees crack and her legs shake. Surviving a building collapse is not fun, the hysteria of what happened with Astral now wearing off and leaving her feeling tired, sore, and confused. Yuma takes hold of the key and squeezes it tightly.

When the water reaches her collarbone, Yuma turns it off. The silence is deafening. Yuma pulls her knees up to her chest and hugs them. She wants to ask Astral to come out of the key and talk to her, but she’s naked. Does she care if he sees her? They’ve now shared a body, and he’s naked all the time, so why should it matter? If she keeps her legs up and pressed tight to her chest, will there be anything to see?

Yuma’s hair floats at the top of the water, and she plays with the ends. Her hair’s gotten so long now, when did she last cut it? Before her parents went missing, that’s for sure. She can use her hair to cover herself further if she wants. Damn, if only she had some bubble bath. She looks down at the tops of her knees. The scratch she got the other day is pink and raw, and the skin on her other knee is distorted from past accidents. She suddenly has a thought—if her parents walked in the door tomorrow, would they recognize her?

Of course they would—parents always recognize their children, and Yuma hasn’t changed that much. Has she?

Would Rio recognize her?

Come to think of it…Yuma’s changed in two years. If her parents are alive, who’s to say they haven’t changed? Do they remember her? Do they look the same at all? Are they here, in this city, and has Yuma walked passed them without knowing it?

Yuma gives her head a shake and the room spins. She closes her eyes and groans. She can’t think about that, she’s got enough to worry about with what happened tonight.

“Are you okay?”

Yuma claps her hands over her mouth and opens her eyes. Astral floats nearby, his eyes shut.

“What are you doing?!” Yuma hisses. “I told you not to come in here!”

“I know, but I was worried, again,” Astral says. His eyes are still closed. “What is it you’re doing?” His voice seems to echo around the room and it makes her head ache.

“I’m taking a bath,” Yuma whispers. “Keep your voice down, will you? My head hurts.”

“What is a bath?” Astral asks, his voice lower.

“I’m sitting naked in hot water,” Yuma tells him. “So keep your eyes shut or turn away.”

Astral turns his back. “What good does sitting in hot water do?”

“It helps my sore legs, and back, and arms, and everything else,” Yuma tells him. “A building just fell on me, you know?”

“I know,” Astral says solemnly. “You could have been killed.”

“Yeah, and I could have lost you, too,” Yuma says. She shivers and hugs her knees again, and lowers her head to rest on them. “When I woke up and you were gone…”

“I’m sorry,” Astral says. “I don’t know how it happened. I didn’t go back in the key on purpose.”

“I know,” Yuma says, automatically. “That’s how I knew something was wrong, because I knew you wouldn’t break your promise to stay. Did Kite force you to go back?”

Astral shrugs. “I can only assume his presence in the key forced it, I doubt Kite knew what would happen. He didn’t even expect to see me.”

Yuma digs her nails into her legs. “What happened to us in the key…did you know it could happen? You’re the one who said that you were going to build the overlay network with me. Which was totally lame, by the way.” She giggles, high and hysterical, and she clamps down on it before she can start crying.

“The words just sort of…came to me,” Astral says slowly. “I knew of Zexal, I knew what it could do, but I didn’t know how. We created our own way to win the duel. Or at least, to prevent a total loss.”

“So we cheated?” Yuma asks.

Astral shrugs once again. With his back turned, she can’t read his face. “I don’t think it’s cheating. We’re dealing with life and death, after all.”

“Can it happen again?”

Astral hums. “You accepted the power, so I assume so. I think it can happen during a life and death situation, should we encounter another one. Hopefully we won’t, but given that Kite is still hunting numbers…”

“For his brother,” Yuma says. She knows how deep family ties run. She can only imagine that something must be wrong with Kite’s brother if Kite says he _needs_ numbers and is willing to steal souls for them. Yuma sighs. “So what now?”

“I suppose we duel as we always have,” Astral says.

“I’m not talking about that,” Yuma snaps, “We just shared a body, Astral! I could touch you! What does that mean for us?!”

Astral is quiet for a moment. Then, “Can I please turn around, Yuma? I don’t like not looking at your face.”

Yuma sighs and arranges her hair to cover her chest. She keeps her legs close her body. “Yeah go ahead,” she mutters.

Astral turns and kneels on the floor. He rests his elbows on the lip of the bathtub and stares right into Yuma’s eyes. “I had a thought,” he murmurs. “It seems so amazing that you’re able to withstand the dark influence of the Numbers. It’s amazing that the key came to be in your possession. It’s amazing that you were able to unlock the power of Zexal and save me. So amazing that I don’t think it’s coincidence. I wonder if you and I are…are one and the same.”

“How do you mean?” Yuma asks.

“If our souls are connected,” Astral says. “If we are perhaps…”

“Soulmates?” Yuma finishes, her heart in her throat.

Astral nods.

Honestly…Yuma could see it being true. How it would be possible, she doesn’t know, but what other explanation could there be? She’s the only one thus far who has been able to see Astral full-time, she has the key, she can control the Numbers, she can merge with Astral to form one being!

Yuma reaches out and places her hand on Astral’s arm. As she touches warm, soft skin, she yanks her hand back and covers her eyes. It’s too much, and she bursts into tears.

“Yuma what’s wrong?” Astral asks, sounding worried.

Yuma sniffles and peeks at him through her fingers. “I…can you close your eyes? I want to get dressed.”

Astral nods and closes his eyes. Yuma speeds through drying off and getting dressed, and then she whispers, “Come on, let’s go upstairs.”

She takes her bag and a towel with her so she can keep drying her hair. She speeds up the stairs, Astral close behind her, and slips into her room. She flops down on her bed and stares at the ceiling, briefly feeling numb until Astral appears over her.

“What happened before?” Astral asks.

Yuma sighs. “It was just…overwhelming. I’m not use to being able to touch you and it was right after you mentioned that we might be soulmates…” She rubs a hand over her face and sits up. “Soulmates, the word, it can have a lot of meanings.” Nervous, she wraps the towel around her hair and twists it tightly. “It can be best friends, someone you can’t live without, someone you love as family, or romantically.”

“Romantically?” Astral echoes.

Yuma nods. “Like…like kiss. Do you know what that is?”

“I have seen it,” Astral says slowly, “On TV. What makes romantic love different from the love of a family or a friend?”

Yuma grabs her phone out of her bag and types that in. “That’s a good question. How to explain it? Okay here we go…platonic—that’s another way to say family or friend love—is not being afraid to fight, but romantic love is about compromise. Platonic love is your roots, romantic love is your future.”

“Roots?” Astral asks. “How so?”

Yuma adjusts the towel around her hair, loosening it a bit, before she scrolls through the website. “Like…it says that it’s knowing that having that person in your life is a given, but romantic love takes planning. I really like that,” Yuma murmurs. She looks up at Astral. “Like how my friends and I don’t need to see each other every day, or talk about our feelings to know what’s going on most of the time. But you and I, we talk about how we feel all the time, and we work to understand each other and come together in the middle. We didn’t get along at first, we had to make adjustments to fit together, but it was a good thing, because we became better people for it.”

“Can friends love each other romantically?” Astral asks.

Yuma puts her phone aside. She thinks about how she and Rio used to tease each other about getting married and how jealous Ryoga would be if they actually did, because his best friend and his sister would be all couple-y. They didn’t mean it, but they shared a bed at sleepovers, they held hands all the time, and they were each other’s first kiss, just because they wanted to know what it was like. Yuma adores Rio, and some part of her will always love Rio, but was it romance?

Maybe if Rio woke up, if they picked up where they left off.

“I ask because of you and Ryoga,” Astral says.

Yuma gasps and chokes on her own spit. “What?!” She wheezes.

“Don’t you love him?” Astral asks. “You speak to him differently. You chased him down and were determined to make him make a different choice about his life, but in the end you let him come to his own decisions in his own time. You look at him differently than how you look at Kotori and Tetsuo. You looked at me the same way today.”

Yuma laughs shakily and smiles at Astral. “You…wow. Um, I didn’t really think about it. Not lately, anyway.”

But looking back…wow. Ryoga wasn’t the first name to jump to her mind but damn, maybe he should have been.

“Do you want to kiss him?” Astral asks.

“I already did,” Yuma blurts. She blushes. “I mean…right before my parents disappeared, like the last sleepover we had, Rio and I kissed because we wanted to know what it felt like. Rio told Ryoga in the morning, he wasn’t with us at night, and he kind of looked a little put-off and he said he couldn’t believe Rio had her first kiss already. So I asked if he wanted to have his first kiss and said I would kiss him and, well…I did.”

Astral smiles. “Do you want to kiss me?”

Yuma feels her cheeks heat up. “Do you want me to?” Yuma fires back.

Astral nods. “You kissed Rio because you wanted to know what it was like. I would like to know that, too.”

 Yuma curls her fingers into her palm. “I can kiss you,” she says, “But it’ll be different than how it was with Rio.”

“Why?” Astral asks.

“Because I feel differently about you than I do Rio.”

Astral shifts on her bed. “Is that…bad?”

“Well, no,” Yuma says. “But it’s complicated. You’re from another planet, I’m sure you…you want to go back there someday. No one else can see you, either, so that complicates things.”

Astral looks away. “Oh. I suppose that does make things difficult, doesn’t it?”

The resignation in his tone makes something in Yuma flip. She sits up and says firmly, “But I never back down from a challenge. We can try this, we can see how it goes.”

Astral looks back at her, and Yuma grins at him. “Okay, supposedly it’s better if you close your eyes.”

Astral closes his eyes and plants his hands on Yuma’s bed. He holds perfectly still, and Yuma laughs. “Give me your hand, silly.”

Astral keeps his eyes closed but holds one hand out. Yuma takes hold of it with both of her hands, and she leans in to kiss Astral. He makes a small sound of surprise as Yuma closes her eyes and presses their lips together, and Yuma can hear him inhale. She keeps it short, she doesn’t think her heart can handle much more at the moment, and when she leans back and opens her eyes, Astral is staring at her in shock.

Yuma giggles. “You look like you’ve been hit by lightning.”

Astral clears his throat. “I think I was.”

“Do you want to try again?” Yuma asks. “It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

Astral looks thoughtful, then he nods. “I want to try again.”

So Yuma leans in and gives Astral the briefest of kisses before he pulls back slightly.

“What do I do?” Astral asks. “Should I just hold still?”

“You know what?” Yuma says, “You kiss me. You know how it’s done now.”

“What if I do it wrong?”

“You can’t kiss wrong,” Yuma tells him. “Just try. You’ll be fine.”

Astral’s cheeks seem to darken, as if he’s blushing. Yuma holds back a laugh and closes her eyes, waiting patiently. Astral does kiss her, and just as she said, he’s fine. Better than fine, in fact.

The two of them go back and forth, kissing each other, for so long that Yuma only realizes how much time has passed when her room begins to lighten.

“Are you tired?” Yuma asks Astral. They’re closer now, knees brushing, hands clasped over them.

“As in sleepy?” Astral asks. “Maybe a little.”

“You could have said so sooner,” Yuma tells him.

Astral shrugs. “But I didn’t.”

“Brat,” Yuma accuses. “Okay, I know it’s Saturday but I doubt my sister will let me sleep the whole day, so let’s get some rest before she comes barging in here.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Astral asks, sounding surprised.

“If you want,” Yuma says as she arranges the sheet over her legs. “I wouldn’t mind.”

So Astral lays down next to her and closes his eyes. The eventful day catches up to Yuma, and she falls asleep quickly.

 

* * *

 

On Saturday, Yuma spends the morning sleeping. She leaves her bed long enough to eat, and Akari checks her over before telling her off for leaving wet clothes in the wash (Yuma’s just glad Akari didn’t ask when she put the clothes in the machine) and tells her that she got a package.

Yuma eats her cereal and takes the package back to her room. Astral is at her window, looking out at the yard. “What’s that?” He asks as Yuma rips open the envelope.

“Dunno,” Yuma says. She tips the envelope’s contents into her lap. A golden, heart-shaped frame falls out, along with a small red gem, and a piece of paper. Yuma unfolds the paper and reads, “See you at the WDC, Kite.”

Her blood runs cold. She and Astral stare at each other in shock.

“WDC,” Yuma says. “World Duel Carnival.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Here](http://elitedaily.com/dating/platonic-love-romantic-love/1816206/) is the article Yuma was reading from.
> 
> YOU GOT YOUR KISSES EVERYONE!!!!


End file.
